Japanese ronin Watanabe Toru hesitated for a moment before finally stepping out of the Japanese concession in Shenyang. Within the Japanese concession, Japan had extraterritoriality, and selling morphine and opium in Japanese pharmacies inside the concession was legal.

However, the Northeast authorities had implemented a drug prohibition law that Watanabe Toru felt could be called tyrannical. Especially in the last two months, any Chinese residing in the Japanese concession would be considered a potential drug addict. Once they left the Japanese concession, they would be directly arrested and sent to a drug rehabilitation labor camp for a month of screening.

Under such tyranny, the Chinese in the Japanese concession had almost all run away. After all, the concession wasn't big; if they couldn't do business with the outside, there was no way to maintain their own operations.

What annoyed Watanabe Toru very much was that the Japanese government actually yielded. To allow Chinese people to return to live in the concession, the Kwantung Leased Territory, which managed the Japanese concession, issued an order prohibiting Japanese pharmacies from selling morphine to Chinese people, seeking to obtain the understanding of the Northeast China government.

The Japanese Watanabe Toru never expected the Kwantung Leased Territory to be so treasonous. At such a time, shouldn't the Japanese government immediately send troops to completely wipe out the Northeast China government, creating a fertile ground for Japan to sell morphine freely in China?

With gnashing hatred for this group of 'unpatriotic people', Watanabe Toru carried a small bottle of morphine and headed toward the inner city of Shenyang.

The buyer was a new drug dealer here, surnamed Ma. He looked fair and clean, appearing quite gentle. The two met at a very ordinary inn. Just as they handed over the goods, they heard footsteps outside.

Watanabe Toru immediately became alert. Pricking up his ears to listen for a moment, he immediately walked toward the back door. However, unexpectedly, that drug dealer surnamed Ma actually ran faster, rushing to the back door one step ahead of Watanabe Toru, opening the door, and fleeing.

At this time, Watanabe Toru couldn't care so much anymore. Extraterritoriality was limited to the Japanese concession; breaking the law outside the concession would still lead to arrest by Chinese officials. The Northeast drug enforcement police were absolutely ruthless when killing resisting drug dealers, completely indifferent to whether the other party was Japanese or not.

So Watanabe Toru sprinted through the streets of Shenyang. He tried to turn left and right as much as possible, desperately trying to shake off the police behind him. Turning a street corner, a figure in black appeared in front. Seeing this uniform, Watanabe Toru was frightened. The person in front was from the Northeast Security Bureau.

However, he couldn't stop his steps at this time. Watanabe Toru could only dash diagonally, trying to bypass this Security Bureau personnel. But this person had already acted; he rushed up fiercely, hugged Watanabe Toru from behind, and knocked him to the ground. The two struggled on the ground for a moment before the police caught up, pinned Watanabe Toru down, and handcuffed him.

The leader gasped, "Thanks, comrade."

The Security Bureau person nodded, asked clearly who was arrested, and left.

This Security Bureau personnel was none other than Wang Donglu. Although a small complication had arisen, Wang Donglu's mood remained very good. Today his parents came to Shenyang. Wang Donglu put on the uniform he had only worn twice and went to the station to pick them up. Catching a drug dealer on the way made Wang Donglu's mood even better.

However, not far after walking, Wang Donglu discovered his uniform was dirty. Thinking of his parents' requirement for neat clothing, Wang Donglu could only find a tap first, pat off the dirt on the clothes, and then wipe off the dirt that couldn't be patted clean with water before continuing to rush to the train station.

The train was late, so Wang Donglu continued to wait. Although a bit bored, when his parents arrived, the wet spots on his clothes had basically been dried by body heat.

Having not seen them for two months, Wang Donglu was overjoyed when he saw his parents and involuntarily gave them a military salute.

His father's expression was no different from usual, while his mother showed regret and sighed, "Why did you become a soldier?"

Wang Donglu didn't explain but said happily, "Dad, Mom, go stay at my place."

"Your house has two rooms?" his mother asked in surprise.

"Yes, one is a study; let Uncle Lü stay there," Wang Donglu replied.

His mother shook her head and sighed, "No need, we'll stay in a hotel."

Arriving at the hotel, the servant Uncle Lü bustled about, while the family of three chatted in the room. Although he had written about his experiences over the past two months in letters, Wang Donglu still told his parents personally.

After a month of military training, Wang Donglu thought he would start working in the Security Bureau. Unexpectedly, he was assigned to Zheng Silang's side in Siping to start work. The job content was to participate in factory production as a military representative. How long he would do it, Wang Donglu didn't know.

Hearing this brief introduction, Wang Donglu's mother sighed. Even Wang Donglu's father asked in surprise, "What exactly does this Security Bureau do? Originally it sounded like a job for the Imperial Guard (*Jinyiwei*). Why do they want you to work in a factory?"

Wang Donglu answered somewhat happily, "Father, this is to establish and perfect total war. If a war breaks out, all factories must be incorporated into the war track, taken over by wartime management departments to complete the production arrangements required for the war."

As Wang Donglu expected, his father was unfamiliar with the general mobilization system but his interest was piqued. After all, his father was a former Qing dynasty *Tongjinshi* (successful candidate in the imperial examination) and had been an official in Guizhou. Although the Qing dynasty had long perished, and the Northeast under He Rui's rule was very different from inside the pass...

The father and son chatted with increasing interest. Wang Donglu's mother couldn't intervene, so she simply lay half-reclined against the quilt on the bed, listening to Wang Donglu chatting with his father.

When Wang Donglu reached an exciting point, he couldn't help sighing, "Dad, I originally thought studying in the United States would allow me to learn advanced knowledge. I didn't expect to learn the true strategy of governing a country in the Northeast. Chairman He is truly enriching the country and strengthening the army."

Hearing this, Old Master Wang's face became serious. "Donglu, you've only been here for two months; don't be wishful thinking. The New Policies at the end of the Qing dynasty were in full swing, but collapsed with a crash just because of a Royal Cabinet. Although He Rui is quite capable of gathering wealth, his actions are radical and he has already offended too many people."

Wang Donglu didn't agree with his father's cautious view. "So what if he offended those people? Can they invade the Northeast? The Northeast Army has 120,000 troops, fully equipped and manned. How many troops did the New Army at the end of the Qing dynasty have?"

Hearing his son's arrogant tone, Old Master Wang's face inevitably looked unpleasant. "You need to change this temper of yours. Don't believe everything you hear; how much can you know just by following others around?"

"At least today I caught a Japanese drug dealer on the street." Wang Donglu couldn't help using the daytime experience as proof. "Since Chairman He took power in the Northeast, foreigners have restrained themselves. Opium has poisoned China for a hundred years; the only place that can sweep it away locally is the Northeast."

Hearing this, Old Master Wang was silent for a moment. It wasn't that he couldn't out-argue his son; the old man hadn't expected He Rui could really achieve this extent. At least in newspapers outside the pass, this matter was never mentioned.

At this time, Mrs. Wang spoke up. "Donglu, banning opium is a good thing. But after General He banned opium, where does he make up for the lost opium tax every year?"

Old Master Wang had always admired his wife's vision, and at this moment, he also felt this was a good question!

When he was an official in Guizhou, Old Master Wang knew very well. Opium tax was indeed something that couldn't be brought to the table, but it was a solid and reliable tax revenue.

Banning opium not only meant losing opium tax, but banning opium itself also required a large investment of money. Regardless of good or evil, just speaking of government management, it was a very uneconomical thing.

Since He Rui did it so thoroughly, making Wang Donglu admire him so much, how would He Rui make up for this income?

Old Master Wang was very interested in this.